I notice that in a number of trance songs, there are Japanese sounding melodies. Two of the tracks that I have in mind are:

Prometheus (original mix) by Benya.
Close your eyes feat. Tiff Lace (Andy Moor mix).

The first one especially has a break-down passage where the notes progress up and down a pentatonic scale, which makes it very Japanese sounding.

Anyone care to comment on this? Is there a Japanese influence in trance music?

John

Last edited by saab340 on Jul-28-2007 at 05:02

There's nothing explicit. Japan seems to have more influences on certain variants of techno than on Trance. That's not to say that individual artists don't seek out a wide range of inspiration. I myself have wanted to try to add a Chinese flavor to my own productions for a long time, but haven't been able to do much. I doubt I'm the only one who has had such thoughts.

That said, pentatonic scales aren't just a Japanese creation. The Greeks used them, too, in the olden days.

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quote:

Originally posted by saab340 I notice that in a number of trance songs, there are Japanese sounding melodies. Two of the tracks that I have in mind are: Prometheus (original mix) by Benya. Close your eyes feat. Tiff Lace (Andy Moor mix). The first one especially has a break-down passage where the notes progress up and down a pentatonic scale, which makes it very Japanese sounding. Anyone care to comment on this? Is there a Japanese influence in trance music? John

there is no general japanese influence on trance. sure there are tunes with japanese samples and vocals but then again there are more trance tunes with african samples.

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there's kinda one sound-wise in tiesto - lethal industry imo.

ive always liked ayu hamasaki. shes a japanese vocalist and does vocal trance!

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AustralianGQ

quote:

Originally posted by AustralianGQ ive always liked ayu hamasaki. shes a japanese vocalist and does vocal trance!

I'm guessing you've never actually heard the original tracks.

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I actually prefer the remixes to the originals, although they fall into different genres.

It's always interesting to see how artists put their own sound and touch to a particular song, since the instrumentation is usually vastly different.

a LOT of trance's melodies are based on the pentatonic. you could say the same with blues too. the pentatonic just goes well with any piece written in a minor key so it's natural to use it to create melodies. i wouldn't call it "japanese."

Yokota

Illuminatus - Japanique (Empty Spaces ...)

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Still up:1:2

Down:3:4:5

haha @ ayu = ferry

some of those mixes fit surprisingly well with her thing, like the attempts from svenson/gielen, a&b, koglin n heath,

shit even hybrid did one

not that its really a Japanese influence on trance, but reminded me of when BT opened 1 of his Essential Mixes with a godly Riyuchi Sakamoto track

Do you mean like One Night In Tokyo???!!11!!

quote:

Originally posted by AustralianGQ ive always liked ayu hamasaki. shes a japanese vocalist and does vocal trance!

lol @ ayu = Japanese music

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